John Petrie-Andrews joined the RAF in 1940. After training as a pilot, in January 1943 he was posted to join 102 (Ceylon) Squadron at Pocklington for his first tour, flying Halifaxes. In February 1943 he transferred to 158 Squadron, still on Halifaxes. John the joined 35 Squadron, one of the original squadrons forming the Pathfinder Force. Here he flew first Halifaxes before converting to Lancasters. John Petrie-Andrews completed a total of 70 operations on heavy bombers, including 60 with the Pathfinders.

Lancaster LM360, piloted by Bill Reid, is raked by fire from stem to stern by a Luftwaffe Fw190 fighter. Bill Reid had already sustained injuries to his head, torso and hands from a previous attack by an Me110, but, with this rest of his crew unsca......

The afternoon of 3rd August 1944 saw Lancasters of 15 Sqn assigned to an attack on German V-1 Rocket stores at Bois de Cassan. While over the target the squadron encountered heavy flak. During the return journey, Lancaster LS-P fell behind the r......

The Avro Lancaster was undoubtedly the RAFs greatest bomber of World War 2. Stemming from the unsuccessful Avro Manchester, the Lancaster carried the night bomber offensive deep into occupied Europe. Over 7,300 Lancasters were built with the last be......

A cold winters morning, as dawn breaks over RAF Lissett, revealing that last nights biting wind has once again brought a covering of snow to the airfield. But, with conditions forecast to improve, tonights operation to bomb industrial targets in Ge......

A cold winters morning, as dawn breaks over RAF Lissett, revealing that last nights biting wind has once again brought a covering of snow to the airfield. But, with conditions forecast to improve, tonights operation to bomb industrial targets in Ge......

A cold winters morning, as dawn breaks over RAF Lissett, revealing that last nights biting wind has once again brought a covering of snow to the airfield. But, with conditions forecast to improve, tonights operation to bomb industrial targets in Ge......

A cold winters morning, as dawn breaks over RAF Lissett, revealing that last nights biting wind has once again brought a covering of snow to the airfield. But, with conditions forecast to improve, tonights operation to bomb industrial targets in Ge......

A cold winters morning, as dawn breaks over RAF Lissett, revealing that last nights biting wind has once again brought a covering of snow to the airfield. But, with conditions forecast to improve, tonights operation to bomb industrial targets in Ge......

The Battle of Britain had been won by the young fighter pilots of Fighter Command, but now it fell to another band of young men to wage total warfare against the Nazi war machine - the aircrew of RAF Bomber Command. And like the fighter pilots of t......

The mighty Lancaster, the mainstay of RAF Bomber Command, crewed by volunteers from Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Rhodesia, South Africa, and many other nations opposed to Nazi rule, flew day and night sorties whenever there was a chance ......

The mighty Lancaster, the mainstay of RAF Bomber Command, crewed by volunteers from Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Rhodesia, South Africa, and many other nations opposed to Nazi rule, flew day and night sorties whenever there was a chance ......

The mighty Lancaster, the mainstay of RAF Bomber Command, crewed by volunteers from Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Rhodesia, South Africa, and many other nations opposed to Nazi rule, flew day and night sorties whenever there was a chance ......

Up to 1942 Bomber Command operations were beset by many problems. The means they had to accurately pinpoint the target and assault it were totally lacking, in fact their Commander in Chief, Air Marshall Arthur Harris later wrote : It was glaringly ob......

Up to 1942 Bomber Command operations were beset by many problems. The means they had to accurately pinpoint the target and assault it were totally lacking, in fact their Commander in Chief, Air Marshall Arthur Harris later wrote : It was glaringly ob......

Up to 1942 Bomber Command operations were beset by many problems. The means they had to accurately pinpoint the target and assault it were totally lacking, in fact their Commander in Chief, Air Marshall Arthur Harris later wrote : It was glaringly ob......

Up to 1942 Bomber Command operations were beset by many problems. The means they had to accurately pinpoint the target and assault it were totally lacking, in fact their Commander in Chief, Air Marshall Arthur Harris later wrote : It was glaringly ob......

Up to 1942 Bomber Command operations were beset by many problems. The means they had to accurately pinpoint the target and assault it were totally lacking, in fact their Commander in Chief, Air Marshall Arthur Harris later wrote : It was glaringly o......

Remembered fondly by many RAF, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand bomber crews, the Halifax served many diverse roles in WWII, including service with Special Duties, dropping agents and supplies behind enemy lines. Halifax MkIIs of 35 Squadron, RA......

Remembered fondly by many RAF, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand bomber crews, the Halifax served many diverse roles in WWII, including service with Special Duties, dropping agents and supplies behind enemy lines. Halifax MkIIs of 35 Squadron, RA......

Remembered fondly by many RAF, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand bomber crews, the Halifax served many diverse roles in WWII, including service with Special Duties, dropping agents and supplies behind enemy lines. Halifax MkIIs of 35 Squadron, RA......

Packs with at least one item featuring the signature of Flight Lieutenant John Petrie-Andrews DFC DFM

Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.102 Sqn RAF

No.102 Sqn RAF

No. 102 squadron was formed at Hingham in Norfolk in August 1917 and was equipped with FE2b and FE2ds and operated as a night bomber squadron. 102 squadron went to France and operated behind German lines with their main targets being railway stations, railway lines, and railway trains, specialising in night attacks. In March 1919 after the war had finished, 102 squadron returned to Britain and disbanded on the 3rd of July 1919. On the 1st of October 1935, 102 squadron was reformed at RAF Worthy Down with the role again as a night bomber squadron, initially using Handley Page Heyford aircraft. In October 1938, 102 Squadron became part of the newly formed No.4 group of Bomber Command based at RAF Driffield and was now equipped with the new Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber. 102 squadron dropped leaflets in the night from 4th to 5th September 1939 over Germany. The squadron spent six weeks on convoy escort duty under the command of Coastal Command from 1st September until 10th October 1940 flying from Prestwick. 102 Squadron returned to bomber command and soon after Leonard Cheshire won his DSO. On the night of 12th/13th November 1940, Whitley V P5005 found itself slightly off course above the primary target due to problems with the intercom. Changing instead to a secondary target, some railway marshalling yards near Cologne, Pilot Officer Leonard Cheshire suddenly felt his aircraft rocked by a series of violent explosions that caused a severe fire to break out in the fuselage, filling the cockpit with acrid black smoke. As DY-N plunged some 2,000 feet, Cheshire managed to regain control and the fire was eventually extinguished. For bringing his aircraft safely home to 102 Squadrons base after being airborne for eight and half hours, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. 102 Squadron continued for the next thirty-six months to fly night sorties (including the thousand bomber raids) over Germany. In 1944 the squadron attacked rail targets in France in preparation for the invasion. In February 1942 the squadron was adopted by the island of Ceylon, which paid for aircraft for use by the squadron. The squadron transferred to Transport Command on 8th March 1945 and in September 1945 re-equipped with Liberators. The squadrons main role was the return of troops and POWs back from India and it disbanded on the 28th of February 1946. No.102 Squadron used the following aircraft : Fe2b from August 1917 to July 1919. Handley Page Heyford from October 1935 to May 1939 - specifically Mk.II from October 1935 to April 1937 and Mk.III from December 1935 to May 1939. Armstrong Whitworth Whitley from October 1938 to February 1942, specifically Mk.IV from October 1938 to January 1940 and Mk.V from November 1939 to February 1942. Handley Page Halifax from December 1941 to September 1945, specifically Mk.II from December 1941 to May 1944, Mk.III from May 1944 to September 1945 and Mk.VI from July 1945 to September 1945. Consolidated Liberator Mks.VI and VIII from September 1945 February 1946. English Electric Canberra B.2 from October 1954 to August 1956.

Royal Air Force heavy Bomber with a crew of six to eight. Maximum speed of 280mph (with MK.VI top speed of 312mph) service ceiling of 22,800feet maximum range of 3,000 miles. The Halifax carried four .303 browning machine guns in the tail turret, two .303 browning machines in the nose turret in the MK III there were four .303 brownings in the dorsal turret. The Handley Page Halifax, first joined the Royal Air Force in March 1941 with 35 squadron. The Halifax saw service in Europe and the Middle east with a variety of variants for use with Coastal Command, in anti Submarine warfare, special duties, glider-tugs, and troop transportation roles. A total of 6177 Halifax's were built and stayed in service with the Royal Air Force until 1952

The Avro Lancaster arose from the avro Manchester and the first prototype Lancaster was a converted Manchester with four engines. The Lancaster was first flown in January 1941, and started operations in March 1942. By March 1945 The Royal Air Force had 56 squadrons of Lancasters with the first squadron equipped being No.44 Squadron. During World War Two the Avro Lancaster flew 156,000 sorties and dropped 618,378 tonnes of bombs between 1942 and 1945. Lancaster Bomberss took part in the devastating round-the-clock raids on Hamburg during Air Marshall Harris' Operation Gomorrah in July 1943. Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations, and the Lancaster was scrapped after the war in 1947. A few Lancasters were converted into tankers and the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and were used in the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties. A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The operation was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which first disabled and later sank the ship. The Lancaster bomber was the basis of the new Avro Lincoln bomber, initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V. (Becoming Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively.) Their Lancastrian airliner was also based on the Lancaster but was not very successful. Other developments were the Avro York and the successful Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992.